A uniform thickness of a material may be desirable in various contexts. Such contexts can include, for example, manufacturing and/or continuous line production of materials such as insulation, plastic sheets, roofing shingles, nonwoven filter material, rubber-based products (e.g., rubber with embedded magnetic material), and/or thickness measuring of tires and/or belts (e.g., conveyor belts, transmission belts, etc.), among others.
For instance, conveyor belts are used in industries such as mining, power generation, and agriculture, among others. Due to usage and/or accidents, conveyor belts can be damaged by wear or tearing.
Both excessive wear and belt tearing can result in unscheduled work stoppages. Because many industries using conveyor belts are located in remote settings, and because of the large size of their machinery, repairing a conveyor belt can take hours or days. Additionally, the lead time for acquiring a new conveyor belt can be excessive (e.g., six months). Losses for industries due to interrupted production from damaged belts may be immense.